Endoscopes are commonly used to view a region inside a subject (e.g., a human, an animal), such as, for example, when performing a therapeutic or interventional medical procedure to remove a polyp within the intestine, when performing a diagnostic medical procedure to view the bronchii searching for tumors, or when performing a diagnostic medical procedure to ultrasonically image an organ (e.g., in transesophageal ultrasonic imaging). Typically, an endoscope has a manipulation portion coupled to an elongated portion (e.g., a flexible elongated portion, a rigid elongated portion, a semi-rigid elongated portion) so that, during use of the endoscope, the manipulation portion remains outside the subject while the elongated portion is at least partially disposed inside the subject. Generally, the elongated portion has one or more optical components (e.g., one or more lenses, imaging fiber optics, video imager) to illuminate and view the region inside the subject, and the manipulation portion has one or more devices designed to control the optical components and the position of the elongated portion in the subject. Optionally, the elongated portion can include one or more medical tools configured to perform a medical procedure on the subject. In general, after each use in a medical procedure, the endoscope is cleaned to remove detritus, and subsequently disinfected and/or sterilized.